tragic news that gregory slay
isidore drummer
remy zero drummer
died yesterday from the big C
after a short illness
he was at home with family n friends
mr slay as we called him
was energetic charismatic generous mischievous
and very very boyish n childlike
i believe he was in his mid to late thirties
a total one off character
we instantly became fast friends
we shot a video for isidore that got aborted
we hung out a bit in l.a.
including an intoxicated isidore all night studio jam
(cmon jeffrey …send me a copy!)
where i adlibbed most of the lyrics about…mr slay…
an american jack the lad
mr slay vale my man
i am shocked at yer sudden passing
i will miss your effervescent personality

ok
i guess it had to happen eventually:
a geezer writes to me on myspace
the email is grandly entitled
“im the guy who wrote the riff in unguarded moment”
in a very nice tone
the geezer says
im sure its haunting you etc etc
but i was in such n such a band who supported you
at such n such a gig
(a gig we never actually played at, mind you!)
and church road crew recorded our show
and gave us a cassette
and gave you a cassette too apparently
which contains such n such a song
wherein you stole the riff for unguarded moment !!!???
then some very very condescending n extremely infuriating stuff
about we have all done wrong things that we try to hide etc etc
and i should make amends etc but geezer emphasizes
hes not threatening me or anything
this geezer is so wide of the mark
so pitifully delusional
everybody knows i stole that riff from the melody in ticket to ride …
anyhow i only was playing the bass part
pete n marty kinda figured out their bits
it has about as much to do with this geezer as
a fucking cod in the northern sea
yet his language is so unbelievably self-righteous
i tell ya one thing i aint ever done mr geezer
n thats sit around listening to the live tapes of bands
who opened for us in some dingy non existent pub
mr geezer my head was overflowing with songs 24/7 in them days
i never stole nothing from ya
but go ahead
sioux me!
now please dont write in my comments
oooh …why djya get so angry with that…!?
its my blogg
i get angry with whatever i like my friends
and some of this stuff is just a fucking insult
and i, like you, have my pressure points
and you know
i wouldnt have minded if they guy had written :
dear kilbey
i always wondered this
and tell me honestly now
man to man
didja rip off me riff?
signed
a geezer
ok
i would never of mentioned it again
to anyone
but this geezers language was thoroughly offensive
so geezer if yer reading
sorry pal
its not your riff
though you may think you have one very similar, i’m sure
yawn…..
and why wait 30 years
why not go me when it “happened”…?
next……
the weather is unbelievably humid
the pool was full of ninnies
the sauna full of strangers
had a mango strawberry date banana rice milk smoothy
mmmmm….

but
poor mr slay….
what a nice cat……!
R.I.P.